At this week’s Take Back the American Dream conference, co-sponsored by Van Jones, progressive activists were already plotting how to maintain their policy victories after President Obama leaves office. One speaker said progressives must concentrate on electing 41 of their own to the Senate so they could filibuster any conservative attempts to roll back the size and scope of the federal government.
But thanks to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., the filibuster may not be the weapon it once was if Republicans eventually recapture the Senate majority. Last night, in an effort to avoid an embarrassing vote on President Obama’s American Jobs Act, Reid changed the Senate rules by a bare majority vote in order to shut down a Republican amendment to China currency manipulation. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who knew Democrats did not have 50 votes in their caucus to pass Obama’s second stimulus, offered the legislation as an amendment to the China bill that Reid has wanted to pass for months.
Reid then appealed to the presiding officer, Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, at the time, to rule McConnell’s motion out of order. Begich asked the Senate parliamentarian for his opinion, which is usually treated as the final word, and the parliamentarian said McConnell’s motion was in order. At this point, the Senate would normally have followed the parliamentarian’s ruling and proceeded to a vote on McConnell’s amendment. But Reid cut that short by calling for a simple majority vote to overrule the parliamentarian. Reid won that vote 51-48.
While Reid’s maneuver only dealt with the minority’s ability to force votes on amendments, the exact same procedure above could be used to do away with the 60 vote filibuster requirement for any other legislation. “We are fundamentally turning the Senate into the House,” McConnell told National Review. If McConnell is right, and Republicans win back the White House and Senate, the strongest 41 progressive senators in the world will not be able to stop Obamacare’s repeal.
Around the Bigs
The Washington Post, Amid Solyndra controversy, head of federal loan program resigns: Jonathan Silver, head of the Energy Department loan program that gave $527 million to the now bankrupt solar panel manufacturing firm Solyndra, resigned Thursday. Energy Secretary Chu was still completely unapologetic about the program: “Because of my absolute confidence in Jonathan and the outstanding work he has done, I would welcome his continued service at the Department, but I completely understand the decision he has made.”
USA Today, $1B foreclosure aid program ends with $568 million unspent: Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman Brian Sullivan confirmed yesterday, that the Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program will return $568 million of the $1 billion it was given back to the Treasury. The program was designed to keep 30,000 Americans in their homes. Only 11,000 were helped.
The Hill, Frustrated Democrats suggest top Obama housing official resign: Several leading House Democrats, including Reps. Elijah Cummings, Md., and Dennis Cardoza,Calif., have called on Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) acting director Edward DeMarco to resign over his failure to stop rising foreclosures.
The New York Times, Some Unemployed Find Fault in Extension of Jobless Benefits: A recent survey of the unemployed by Rutgers University found that more than one in four respondents are opposed to renewing the current extended unemployment benefits. “They’re going to end up spending more money on unemployment benefits, while less money is coming in on tax returns,” Dan Tolleson, an unemployed political science writer, told The Times. “Far better to relax some of these outrageous regulations.”
The Washington Examiner, Protesters take to Washington streets: About 1,000 protestors marched from Freedom Plaza to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce headquarters yesterday in Washington, D.C. Protestor Christine Bandi, who came from Nashville, Tennessee, told The Examiner, “I think the only real problem is that there’s too many causes. I think it really comes down to corporate greed.”
The Wall Street Journal, Nearly Half of U.S. Lives in Household Receiving Government Benefit:
Almost half of Americans, 48.5 percent, lived in a household that received some type of government benefit in the first quarter of 2010, according to Census data. That number was only 44.4 percent as recently as 2008.
Associated Press, FACT CHECK: Obama claims miss some evidence: The AP fact-checked Obama’s press conference yesterday, including his claim the Republicans have not explained why they oppose his second stimulus bill: “While Republicans might not be campaigning on their opposition to Obama’s plan, they’ve hardly kept their objections a secret.”
Righty Playboook
The Heritage Foundation‘s James Gattuso explains how Obama confirmed all the worst fears about the Consumer Financial Protection Board at yesterday’s press conference.
Professor Bainbridge writes about the absurdity of the anti-corporation movement.
At The Corner, Betsy Woodruff collects quotes from Senate Democrats praising Occupy Wall Street.
Lefty Playbook
Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz makes the case against Majority Leader Harry Reid’s, D-Nev., China currency manipulation bill, noting that now is no time for a trade war.
Matt Stoller reports on the #OccupyWallStreet protesters: “The first speech I heard at #OccupyWallStreet during soapbox time was a fairly explicit rejection of the notion of an American dream. Many people draw their inspiration from Tahrir Square, hardly a fount of Americana circa 1950. In other words, many of these people simply do not seem to be traditional liberals; they seem to see themselves as a transnational leftist class who believe gender, race, and economics are bound up into one struggle against oppression.”
Cannonfire suggests a coherent OWS demand: Timothy Geithner. The Secretary of the Treasury must go.
